


The One That Got Away

by AllTrekkedUp



Category: Adam-12
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Missing Persons, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2019-11-15 14:02:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18074777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTrekkedUp/pseuds/AllTrekkedUp
Summary: Pete has gone away for the weekend and comes home to find that nothing is as he left it.





	1. Chapter 1

Pete Malloy was driving back into L.A. feeling rested and ready to go back to work after a wonderful three days of fishing out in the country. He had left Friday morning early and had intended to spend only two nights at the little fishing cabin he had rented, but being out there among nature felt so good to him that he stayed Sunday night as well. Waking while it was still dark to make the trek home and straight to work, it didn't bother him in the slightest. He felt nothing could bother him today, that feeling more than likely came from the facts that he had had no phone and no radio on for the past three days. Just the sounds of his casting and reeling in, bugs and birds, three days in heaven.

He was nearing the station now and starting to come back down to earth, he loved his job and his apartment, but times like he had had that weekend made him wonder what life would be like as a sheriff's deputy. When he pulled into the lot he saw Reed's car and parked beside it. His partner had told him Thursday that he was using his days off to help Jean with some yard work, re-doing a flower bed or something like that. Pete had cringed and Jim had laughed, for the life of him he would never understand how Jim enjoyed doing things around the house. 

Getting out of the car he walked into the station and on into the locker room, the place was eerily empty and quiet. Pete kept looking around as he dressed, the occasional sound of someone passing in the hall outside the door gave him consolation that he wasn't alone. When he finished he headed out into the hall himself, the officers walking by were closed mouthed and there was a mix of tension and urgency in the air that made Pete feel anxious- something was wrong. He went to Mac's office and saw the man sitting behind his desk looking tired, Brinkman sat in front of it talking to a couple of detectives. Mac looked over and saw Pete standing just outside the door, hand on it, getting ready to come in on the scene. He got up and went out to him.

"Pete, I'm so glad you're here! We've been trying to get a hold of you since yesterday! Where the hell have you been?!" Mac exploded on him.

Pete took a deep breath, his peace and quiet was definitely over now. "On a fishing trip. You knew where I was going to be," he said.

"Well yeah, but you were supposed to be back yesterday! You could have got on the goddamn phone and called!" Mac ranted.

"The place I stayed didn't have a phone. You mind telling me just what the hell your problem is and what's going on around here?! This hallway is quiet as a tomb!" Pete said, tone turning angry to match Mac's.

"I'm sorry... I guess we're all on edge this morning. Have you talked to anyone yet?" Mac asked.

"No I haven't. What's wrong, Mac?" Pete asked, all anger washing out of his voice, now he was concerned.

"Jim went out on patrol yesterday morning and disappeared, car and all," Mac said.

Pete felt his heart sink, the vacation was very much over.


	2. Chapter 2

Mac had ushered Pete on into his office where Brinkman and the detectives, Warren and Brighton were. "I know you'll have a lot of questions, so you can go ahead and start asking," Mac said.

Pete was finding it hard to wrap his head around what he had been told. Jim just gone? He rubbed his forehead. "Okay, alright, so why was he even working for starters? It was our days off," he asked.

"We were short of men, a couple of our guys got hit Saturday night. They were taking seven at a pizza palour and a man walked up to them and shot them in their booth. Thank God it was close to Central Receiving or they would be dead right now," Mac explained.

"My God..." Pete said.

The whole room was silent a moment before Mac spoke again. "So I called in Jim, and he and Brinkman went out Sunday morning. Everything was fine when they left here, I think Brinkman can takeover now," he said.

"Well, we started out and everything was fine just like Mac said. We patrolled our area, it was slow on calls, only got one the first two hours we were out and it was just a fender-bender in a church parking lot. We were discussing where we were going to eat when we came across this gas station with a car in it's phone booth. I got out to see if the driver was okay, turned out to be a dunce, but the last thing I heard Jim say was that he was going to call it in. Then in the process of me talking to not only the dunce but the owner of the gas station I looked over and saw Jim taking off, I yelled for him to stop but he either didn't hear me or was too focused on something else to notice. And that's it," Brinkman said.

"What do you mean that's it? Did he have his lights on? Siren going? Which direction did he go? Surely to God someone saw a police car speeding down the street " Pete said.

"No and no. He headed north on St. Steven Avenue," Brinkman said.

"St. Steven? There's a big church there, you're telling me no one saw him?" Pete asked. 

"We questioned as many people as we could find that were at home at that hour. But it's a Latino neighborhood, most of them dedicated Catholics, just about everyone for three blocks were at mass at the time Jim would have gone by," Warren said.

"So no one close to the gas station saw him?" Pete asked.

"Only one old woman who was on her porch, she said she saw go by, but didn't think anything of it because it was a police car and they go fast most of the time," Brighton said.

"And that's all we've got?" Pete asked.

"Yes. It's just like the city swallowed him up, we have been following every possible lead, which are basically nonexistent, and there is nothing to go on," Mac confirmed.

"Well I have to help look for him. I'll go out on my regular duty, but I have to find him, Mac," Pete said, looking his friend in the eyes.

"I knew you would say that. Sanchez is waiting to partner up with you, after roll call when you go out you can go back to the gas station and check around. But you have to share with the detectives and you have to respond to all your calls," Mac cautioned. 

"Right," Pete said. 

"Okay, let's get to roll call then," Mac said. Warren, Brighton and Brinkman slowly left the office and as Mac was going out Pete caught his arm.

"How is Jean?" he asked. 

"Not good. Mary is with her but, she's just barely got head above water. This not knowing is getting to all of us," Mac said.

Pete didn't say anything, he was processing this information. There was one thing he knew, and that was that he wouldn't stop until Jim was found.


	3. Chapter 3

Once they had gone through roll call Pete sent Sanchez on out to the car and he went back to talk to Brinkman briefly again before leaving. He saw him in the hall and stopped him, he had a specific question in mind.

"Brinkman, can you tell me why you looked towards the car when you were talking?" Pete asked.

Brinkman merely looked at him for a moment, he was tired and it was getting hard for him to focus. He had been at the station or out on patrol for nearly twenty-four hours. "Um..."

"Please, I know you're tired but it could be important. Did you hear a call come in on the radio? Or maybe someone there at the gas station told him about something? Did you hear yelling anywhere?" Pete asked.

"Well...the reason I looked over was that I thought Jim had gotten out of the car. I heard a car door shut," Brinkman said.

"A car door shutting? You're sure that's what made you look over?" Pete asked.

"Yes. I'm positive," Brinkman confirmed. 

Pete nodded and then went to grab the address of the old woman that Warren and Brighton had talked to. After this he went out to get in the car and start patrol with Sanchez in Adam 12's usual area.

They got a call right away about a family dispute, it turned out to be nothing, a wife calling because her husband had been out all night and come back drunk. He was passed out on the front step, no harm had been done, they left. Then they got the opportunity to go talk with the woman who had seen Jim go by her house, it was two blocks from the gas station. A little brown house with white shudders and a small front porch where the elderly woman they had come to see was sitting, no doubt in the same place she had been the Sunday before.

"Hello, ma'am. We'd like to talk to you about the police car you saw pass your house on Sunday," Pete said.

She spoke back to him in Spanish. Pete knew some Spanish but he let Sanchez take the lead in talking to her so they wouldn't miss anything she said.

Sanchez looked at Pete. "She says yes she saw it, it didn't have any lights on though."

"Ask her if she could see inside or was it going too fast," Pete said.

Sanchez nodded and then asked her, she spoke to him for a few moments and he looked back at Pete. "She said it was going fast but she could see inside. An officer driving and someone in the back," he reported.

Pete's mouth fell open slightly. "Someone in the back?"

"She said the man in the back was leaning forward, like he was close to Jim," Sanchez said.

"Like he had a gun on him maybe," Pete said.

Sanchez talked with the woman a bit more before turning back to Pete. "She said they went by too fast for her to notice a gun. But she is certain someone was in the back," he said.

"So Jim may not have left of his own freewill," Pete said, looking out at the road, wondering where his partner might be and what condition he was in.


	4. Chapter 4

Pete and Sanchez went back to the station after talking to their witness, Pete wanted to tell Mac about this in person.

"So someone got in the car at the gas station with him and then forced him to take off like that?" Mac asked.

"That's the way it looks. I know Brinkman was busy and probably didn't notice anyone in the car, but he did hear a car door shut. Now we have to find out just where he is and who got in the car? I'm worried, Mac, this could be bad," Pete said.

"I feel the same way. But we literally have nothing else to go on, it's not going to be easy find oout anything," Mac said.

Pete didn't say anything, all he knew was that somehow he was going to find Jim. A part of him felt guilty, if he had been there would this had even happened? He left the office and went into the hall looking for Sanchez, when he did he saw Warren talking with his temporary partner.

"What's going on?" Pete asked.

"Well I told him what we found out and he thinks it might have something to do with some prisoners that broke out of the county jail," Sanchez said.

"When did this happen?" Pete asked. This was more news to him, he had missed a lot while he was gone for the weekend.

"Saturday evening. Two prisoners broke out of the county jail and have been on the run ever since," Warren said.

"They told us about it in roll call this morning," Sanchez reminded.

"Oh yeah..." Pete said, he needed to get his head fully in the game.

"But there was just one man as reported by our witness, in the car with Jim," Sanchez said.

"I'm not saying it's a positive, but it is a possibility," Warren said.

"You guys, I think we've found something," Mac said, coming up to them.

***

In an alley was the patrol car Jim and Brinkman had been using. The front end was smashed and the engine had blown up, smoke coming from it but it was empty, no one to be found.


	5. Chapter 5

Blood flowed afresh from Jim's nose, it was all down his face and on his now ripped uniform shirt. He was sure it was broken, the way he had been beaten by the two men who had him. Handcuffed with his own cuffs he didn't know where he was, sometime after crashing the unit he had blacked out. He did know he was on the ground inside somewhere, he did know the two men were pacing in front of him and they had his gun. What he didn't know was how he was going to get away from them.

"How the hell we gonna get to Mexico now, Harley?" the man speaking was taller than his fellow, with a five o'clock shadow and tattoos up his arms. His right knuckles had dried blood on them from hitting Jim.

"We'll just steal another car, everything will be okay," Harley said. He was blonde with a crew cut and blue eyes, he seemed to be in charge.

"Why in hell did you think it was a good idea to steal a cop anyway?! They'll be looking for him!" 

"When I seen him I figured it would be a free pass to go over the border. We gotta hostage they won't stop us, the plan will still work as long we get another car," Harley said.

"I don't know... I don't like it." he looked over at Jim who was aware enough now to be looking back at him.

"All we gotta do is avoid other cops and get to the border. You hit him a little more, keep him kinda out of it but alive and things will work out, Harve, I'm telling you," Harley assured.

"Well...there is nothing else for us to do, we can't stay here. They are looking for us, they are looking for him, we gotta do something," Harve said.

"That's right. Now I'll go grab us some wheels and you watch the blue wonder kid over there," Harley grinned and patted Harve's shoulder.

"Okay, I'll be listening for you," Harve said.

Harley nodded and slipped carefully out the door. 

Harve walked over to Jim and looked down at him with a smirk. "You heard that, pig? We're gonna take you down to Mexico with us, I hope you like the country because you're gonna be staying there," he said.

Jim just looked up at him, his mind was foggy, he couldn't get the words to form for a response. 

"Giving me the silent treatment, huh? I guess you're a scared pig," Harve said. He acted as though he was going to turn away but then kicked Jim in the gut.

Jim double over with a moan, then he just laid down on his side and started praying for help.


	6. Chapter 6

"We can only guess that it was crashed yesterday afternoon sometime," Mac said. He, Pete, Sanchez and the detectives were looking over the patrol car.

"Yesterday afternoon? And no one reported it?" Sanchez asked.

"Not in this neighborhood. There are very few people that live in this section, it's probably why Reed crashed it here, and I do believe he did it intentionally. He probably saw it as his only way to get away from who had captured him," Pete said.

"You mean 'who' has him. There are no signs of him around here, none of them were badly injured or they would still be here," Mac said.

"Well at least we know that they are on foot and looking for a place to hide. They have to be close," Pete said.

"That could be true. But you and Sanchez need to get back out there on patrol, as much as I know you want to be looking for Jim there are other people in the city to protect," Mac said.

Pete left the scene reluctantly, he felt his place was looking for his partner, but he knew he also had a job to do.

The day seemed to drag on, there were few calls and no conversation between he and Sanchez. Both men were thinking about the same thing, that Jim might be dead somewhere, but the difference was that Pete held out hope that that wasn't the case. At end of watch Pete changed his clothes and wanted nothing more to catch a few hours of sleep, before that though he wanted to go see Jean.

When he pulled up to the Reed house Pete sat in the car a moment or two before getting out. Deciding what to say to her, he knew Jean was a strong woman, but he also knew how much she loved her husband. He got out and walked up to the door, a few moments after his knocks Mary MacDonald answered the door.

"Oh Pete, it's good to see you," she said.

"And you too, Mary. It's been a while," Pete said.

"Too long! You'll have to come over for dinner sometime," Mary said. She let Pete come in and closed the door.

"You can count on it. Where is Jean?" Pete asked, looking around.

"She's in the kitchen. We have been busy all day, I think it helps her, keeps her mind on something else at least for a little while," Mary said.

"Yeah, can you tell her I'm-"

"Mary? Who is that?" Jean asked. She came from the kitchen and saw Pete standing there, she came to him and hugged him.

Pete hugged her back. "Everything will be alright, Jean. We'll find him," he assured.

"Mac called us and told us about the car. Was there any signs of blood or anything?" Jean asked, slowly pulling away from Pete.

"Not that I saw. Where's Jimmy?" Pete asked.

"He's at my sister's house, I just...I didn't want him to see me this way. It was hard enough trying to tell him that Jim wasn't coming home for a while," Jean said, she was fighting back tears.

"I know. But we- I'll bring him home. I promise you that," Pete said.

"I don't doubt that you will, Pete. But what I worry about is what condition you'll bring him home in," Jean said.

"Jim is a good cop, Jean. He's smart and he's quick, if anybody can make it in the situation we think he is in it's Jim," Pete said.

"I hope so. I'm praying so," Jean said.

Pete stayed for a while before going back to his apartment. Though tired he knew he would get very little sleep, because he too would be worrying about Jim.


	7. Chapter 7

The next time Jim woke up he was laying in the backseat of a car, it was dark outside the windows and he felt nauseous. He took some deep breaths, his wrists hurt from being the cuffs for so long, his head throbbed. He looked up at the front seats, Harley was driving and Harve was riding shotgun, he was sure they were headed out of town but he didn't know how long they had been traveling. He had to get a look around and know where they were, he started trying to sit up.

"What are you doin'?' Harve asked. 

"I think I'm going to be sick," Jim said. It wasn't a lie, and he was willing to force it to happen sooner. Anything to make them stop.

"So what?" Harve said.

Jim used all the strength he had to sit up, when he did he leaned forward slightly and threw up on Harve.

"Shit!" Harley said. He pulled over to the side of the road quickly.

"You disgusting pig! You did that on purpose!" Harve said.

Jim didn't respond. He looked around as best he could in the dark. They were out in the county somewhere, there wasn't much around.

"Well I sure as hell ain't riding all the way to the border with you like that. I saw a sign back there for an all night diner, we'll stop there and go in so you can clean up," Harley said.

"People will see us!" Harve said as they got back out on the road.

"Who'll see us? An old bag waitress, a greasy line cook? Maybe a trucker? All tired and not giving a damn. Besides, you're the only one going in. I'll stay outside with our bundle of joy back there," Harley said.

"When you say it like that I guess it should be okay," Harve said. 

"It's okay if I say it's okay. I'm in charge here, you do what I say or die," Harley said with a cruel edge to his voice.

Harve was silent.

Jim listened to them in silence as well, he could tell Harley would be the one that would kill him if the time arose.

They pulled into the diner parking lot and Harve in, Harley got out and lit a cigarette. Jim was weighing his options, if he tried to get out there was nothing around for him to run too. There were no other cars in the lot which meant they were probably right in thinking there was two people running the diner that late. They wouldn't be able to help him ot defend themselves against two men with a gun. A gun of which Harley had in his belt and could shoot and kill Jim with in a matter of seconds if he got out of the car.

So he decided to go with option two. He bent his head down to his chest and got his mouth around his name tag, he pulled as hard as he could until it ripped off. It made a tearing sound when it did and he quickly checked to see if Harley had heard it, he hadn't as he kept on smoking. Jim waited for Harve to come out and Harley to turn and look at him before he leaned up and spit it out the open door.

They got in and started backing out of the parking lot. "See? Told ya it would be fine," Harley said. 

Jim just looked at the diner's lights and prayed someone would find his name tag and remember the cop that they had heard was missing from the LAPD.


	8. Chapter 8

Pete woke to his phone ringing off the hook. He wasn't sure just when he had fallen asleep but it had been late, he got up quickly and got it on the last ring. "Hello?"

"Pete? I've been trying to get you for an hour! We have a lead, it's hot. Can you come to the station right away?" it the voice of Detective Warren. 

"Yes of course," Pete said. He didn't give Warren a chance to say anything else, he hung up the phone and dressed to leave.

When he rolled up to the station he saw Warren and Mac standing outside by their cars. 

"Get in, we're rolling to a country diner," Warren said. 

Pete looked from him to Mac who was getting in the station wagon. Pete got in with Warren and they took off. "Did you call me down here for breakfast or what's going on?" he asked. 

"We got a phone call at about five this morning from a cook at a diner in the county. He found a name tag by his car in the parking lot of the diner, he had just heard a newscast about a missing policeman named Reed before he got out of his car," Warren said. 

"Jim's name tag?" Pete asked. Many emotions filled him, the most prevalent being reassurance that his partner was still alive and kicking. 

"That's right," Warren said.

When they arrived each man took a look at it, there was no question that it was Jim's. Warren talked with the cook, he wasn't on duty the night before but he gave information on the man who was. They would ask him down to the station later on.

"Do you think they are taking the scenic route to the border?" Warren asked.

"If the two prisoners from county have him then I would say that's a safe bet," Mac said.

"There are road blocks up everywhere looking for them. They can't be on the run much longer," Warren said. 

Pete was still looking at the name tag in his hand, not paying attention to their conversation. Jim was close, he could feel it, but with every second he was slipping further away.

"Pete?" Mac asked.

"Mac, I'm taking some time off. I have some more coming," Pete said.

"Pete, don't do anything foolish. We will get Jim back," Mac said. 

"Just take me back to my car," Pete said.

Mac knew that tone and that look too well from his former partner. Pete's mind was made up, no one could change it. "Alright," he said. But he didn't like the situation one bit.


	9. Chapter 9

"We're pulling into this gas station up here to get some snacks. I am depending on you to keep blue boy in the car," Harley said. It was now morning and they had been driving all night. Jim had been quiet thus far. "Sure, no problem," Harve said. They eased into the gas station, Harley parked on the side in an attempt to keep the license plate on the car hidden. He got out and headed inside, he had taken Jim's wallet at some point since they had kidnapped him and would be using his money to buy the snacks with. Harve looked around, there were a few people there but not many. There didn't seem to be anything to worry about, the morning was cool and fresh, the sunrise had been pink with promises of bad weather later on in the day, it's dustu hue still present in the sky. "I gotta go to the bathroom," Jim said. He felt this might be his last chance to get away before they hit the border. "Okay. When Harley comes back we'll see about takin' ya," Harve said. "Come on, man. Just take me, we can be back in the car before he comes back," Jim said. "Well...I gotta go too so...okay," Harve said. Jim felt elated. Harve got out and opened his door, once Jim was out he turned his back and headed for the men's room just steps away. Jim swung his cuffed hands up and over Harve's head, getting him in a choke-hold. At this moment Harley was coming back with a bag in his hand, he gasped at what he saw and started to pull his gun but the sounds of the struggle was starting to attact attention from people at the gas pumps. So he got in the car and took off burning rubber out of the lot and down the road still headed south. "Help!" Jim yelled. Two men from the pumps came running back there and helped him out, restraining Harve and listening to what Jim had to say about what happened to him. They sat him down on the sidewalk and one of them went in to call the police, Harley had the key to the cuffs so there was nothing they could do about them. But Jim could deal with them a little longer knowing he was free and that help was on the way. *** When Pete had returned to the station he got in his car and headed back for the diner, passing it he traveled that road as fast as he could, ignore the speed limits, hoping a county mountie didn't pull him over. He knew they were traveling this road due south, he also knew he could closer to them without a uniform or a black and white. He went for he didn't know how long before he heard the sirens and saw the lights coming up behind him. "Shit," he said aloud and pulled over to the side of the road. But the unit flew on past him, he took out after it, following it into a gas station where he saw his partner cuffed and sitting on the ground looking a little worse for wear but very much alive. He got out and went over to him with a amile. "Long time no see," he said. Jim looked up and smiled back. "You were supposed to be home on Sunday," he said. "Well I had assumed you were doing yard work and could take care of yourself. I'll never make that mistake again," Pete said. He sat down beside him and looked him over. "Rough on you?" "A little. They were escaped from the county jail, well, Harley still is, he took off. They were going to use me as a hostage to get into Mexico," Jim explained. "I'm sure they'll get him. I'm just glad to see you alive. You had plenty of people worried," Pete said. "I was worried myself. I can't wait to get out of these," Jim said, looking down at his hands. "Sorry I don't keep keys on me out of uniform," Pete said. "Just why aren't you working anyway?" Jim wondered. "I figured I could get to you easier on my own," Pete said. "You were going to get into trouble in other words?" Jim said. "Some things are worth a little trouble," Pete smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can look out for the conclusion of this story this coming Thursday. Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.


	10. Chapter 10

Jim had just been checked out at the emergency room of Central Receiving. He was to be kept over night for observation as a precaution despite his protests of feeling fine now. Jean had come to be reunited with him and Pete was there too. 

"I had no idea they had even approached the car, I was calling in the situation at the gas station. It was only when Harley put what I thought was a gun to my head and told me to take off that I knew they were there. It really shocked me and put a scare in me, I did what I was told," Jim was explaining. 

"I think any officer would have. I know I would have. Anything other than what you did could have gotten not only you hurt but others. I think you did the right thing," Pete said.

"I tried to get it stopped by wrecking the unit in an alley, as I'm sure you know by now. But after I rammed it into that alley wall they still had the gun and ordered me to get out before the motor blew. After that we went to a warehouse nearby, they drug me part of the way, I was pretty out of it from hitting my head during the wreck," Jim said.

"You're lucky to be alive!" Jean said, she leaned over to hug him.

"You sure are," Pete agreed.

Mac came and knocked on the door then, they ushered him in and he came to stand by the bed. "Well, they have your other kidnapper," he told Jim.

"I told you they would get him soon," Pete said. 

"Taking him back to the jail?" Jim asked.

"No. To the morgue. He blew a tire about ten miles from the gas station and at the speed he was going he lost control of the car, hit telephone poll and it killed him," Mac said.

"Wow..." Jim said.

"Crime doesn't pay. But I'm glad you're going to be alright," Mac said.

"So are we!" Jean said.

"That's the last time I go on vacation for a while. But the next time I do go Jim is coming with me, that way I won't have to worry what he's getting into," Pete said with a smile.

Jim smiled back at him. "I would just get into some trouble with you," he said.

"Now that I don't doubt!" Mac laughed.

THE END.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everybody who read this story and to the people who not only read but left comments and kudos.


End file.
